February 6/01 8:58 am - Fraser Wins!

Posted by Editor on 02/6/01

Fraser Wins!

Defending champions Mercury Viatel has picked up where they left off last year at the Tour de Langkawi, with Gord Fraser winning the first stage and team mate Jans Koerts taking the yellow leader's jersey.

The 182 kilometre stage along the northeast coast of Malaysia was the first chance many of the riders have had to race this season, and expectations that it would be a slow race with a fast finish were realized as the peloton rolled along with no attacks for the first 100 kilometres. The intense heat and humidity also put a damper on ambitions, with the temperature topping 36 Celcius for much of the day, under a baking sun.

The first few tentative efforts to stir things up quickly fizzled when Mecury Viatel, Mapei-Quick Step and others jumped on them immediately, and the stage turned into a procession to the final sprint, livened up with a few intermediate points sprints and series of crashes (one caused by a cow on the course).

Mercury Viatel sent their new Dutch signing Koerts to the front for the first two (of three sprints), and besides the points he garnered, the 3 second time bonuses awarded made him the leader on the road. "We talked about our plan last night, and it was for me to go for the sprints. They (other riders) were scared off after I took the first two sprints. I sat out the final (intermediate) sprint so that I would be fresh for the leadout at the end."

In the final few kilometres the Mercury Viatel train went to work, increasing the pace constantly with Chris Horner, Scott Moninger, Chris Wherry and Henk Vogels winding things up for Koerts and Fraser as the field took two quick lefts before hitting the final straightaway.

"It was perfection", said Fraser. "I couldn't have asked for a better lead out. Jans took me to 100 metres (from the line) and I was able to bring it home." Fraser also admitted that the win was especially satisfying after his unusual drought at Langkawi last year. "It was frustrating last year - second three times, third three times. This is better."

However, Koerts' stay in the jersey is likely to be short - tomorrow the riders face 226 kilometres with two Category Two climbs, and sprinters like Fraser and Koerts are unlikely to be in the front group.

Race Notes

- Team Canada had mixed success today. All 7 riders finished with the main peloton, but a few went down in the multiple crashes, notably Jacob Erker (see photo below).

- After stage 1 Mercury Viatel holds all the same jerseys it held at the conclusion of the race last year - Leader's, Points (Koerts also) and Team Classification.